Diamond clusters defining various shapes

ABSTRACT

A jewelry stone cluster comprising four gemstone sections which are mounted in a setting and which are juxtaposed to each other. Each gemstone section includes a table facet and, in one form, a respective pair of adjacent cross facets, with the cross facets extending in planes that are at an angle to their respective table facet. Together, the four pairs of juxtaposed cross facets define an inscribed cross symbol. Preferably, the upper gemstone quadrant sections are smaller sized, so that the arms of the cross are located vertically higher. The overall shape of the gemstone cluster can be round, four sided, oval, marquis, pear, polygonal or any shape.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention is directed to diamond jewelry and, more particularly, to a mosaic or cluster of diamonds that together define or show or form a particular item or shape, for example, the Christian, or any, cross symbol.

In the field of diamond jewelry it has been known to shape a diamond into a cross shape and/or to cluster or combine diamonds and/or other precious or semi-precious gemstones so that the diamonds have an overall cross shape. Representative prior art includes U.S. Pat. Nos. D368,869; D465,742; D464,904; D466,044; and 6,546,305, the contents of which are fully incorporated herein by reference.

It is also possible to carve into the table of a diamond a cross shape, but the process would be difficult, costly, and require a large diamond to realize a cross shape that is easily discernable to the un-aided human eye, i.e. without the use of a jeweler's loop or other magnifying implements.

The present inventor has recognized that it would be useful, competitively advantageous, and challenging to provide the trade with jewelry pieces incorporating precious and semi precious stone clusters arranged so that the center of the cluster, where the stones meet, defines a cross or any other shape. The invention also focuses on jewelry made or fabricated from smaller, discreet gemstones that are arranged to convey and closely resemble a single larger sized stone into which the cross shape or other shapes appear to have been inscribed.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The foregoing and other objects of the invention are realized in a jewelry stone cluster defining a cross or any other shape and including a setting, and preferably four gemstone quadrant sections located in the setting juxtaposed to each other. Each gemstone quadrant section includes a table facet and a respective pair of adjacent cross facets, with the cross facets extending in planes that are at an angle to their respective table facet such that the four pairs of juxtaposed cross facets together define or simulate an inscribed cross symbol. Preferably, two upper gemstone quadrant sections are smaller in size than two vertically lower gemstone quadrant sections, for proper placement of the cross arms. The jewelry gemstone cluster can be created to have any of a round shape, a square (includes rectangular) shape, an oval shape, a marquis shape, a pear shape, or any shape. Other shapes are possible, for example, a flower, a letter, a star and the like, and the number of stone sections can be 2, 4, 6 or even an odd number of stones.

Other features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following description of the invention which refers to the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a vertical cross section through a conventional round diamond

FIG. 2 is a side view of the diamond of FIG. 1, mounted in a round, cylindrical setting.

FIG. 3 is a bottom view of FIG. 2.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing the table of conventional diamond with an inscribed cross.

FIG. 5 is an exploded view of a first embodiment of the invention showing four diamond sections or quadrants which, when combined, show an inscribed cross.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the invention showing the set diamonds sections of FIG. 5.

FIG. 7 is a side view of FIG. 6.

FIG. 8 shows the invention in a square shape.

FIG. 9 shows the invention in an oval shape.

FIG. 10 shows the invention in a marquis shape.

FIG. 11 shows the invention in a pear shape.

FIG. 12 shows the invention with the inscribed shape being the letter “M”.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 illustrates diagrammatically a conventional round diamond 10 with its table 12, crown 14 and pavilion 16. The diamond 10 can be mounted in a round setting 20 with the table 10 and crown 14 jutting above the setting and the culet 22 protruding at the bottom, all as widely known and shown in FIG. 2. FIG. 3 shows the bottom view. The conventional diamond can be drilled or laser cut to define a cross shape 18 in its table 12 as shown in FIG. 4, but doing so would require a large sized and therefore expensive diamond and a very laborious and expensive process as noted above.

In departure from the prior art, the present invention utilizes, as depicted in the exploded view of FIG. 5, four diamond sections or quadrant sections 13 a, 13 b, 13 c and 13 d. Each diamond quadrant has a respective table facet 12 a, 12 b, 12 c and 12 d, and a respective crown section 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and 14 d. Most importantly, each diamond quadrant includes two respective cross facets, for example, 13 a 1 and 13 a 2 for the first quadrant section 13 a, and similar cross facets for the other three diamond quadrants, namely and respectively facet pairs 13 b 1, 13 b 2; 13 c 1, 13 c 2 and 13 d 1, 13 d 2. Each diamond section can be cut from a rough stone, or existing diamonds may be re-cut into the shape needed for this invention.

Each of these “cross” facet pairs is defined in a respective plane that is angled relative to table facet 12, as well as to being inclined at their bottom edges 13 e 1 and 13 e 2 (which extend at right angles relative to each other). The cross facets 13 e 1 and 13 e 2 meet at mating or joining edge or surface 13 m. Each of the other quadrant sections has its respective cross facet pairs, 13 cbl, 13 cb 2; 13 cc 1, 13 cc 2 and 13 cd 1, 13 cd 2, as shown.

As shown in FIG. 6, when the four diamond quadrants 13 a, 13 b, 13 c and 13 d are set adjacent each other in the jewelry setting 20, the cooperation of the adjacently located and juxtaposed cross facet pairs described above results in the composite diamond 29, the four diamond constituents of which together define and show an inscribed cross shape 30. The cross shape 30 extends vertically along the nadir edge 32, and horizontally along the horizontal nadir edge 34, forming the cross arms as shown. Note that the vertically higher, diamond quadrant sections 13 a and 13 b are smaller than the lower quadrant sections 13 c and 13 d, in order to locate the arms 31 a and 31 b of the cross closer to the upper tip 36 of the inscribed cross, to obtain a properly shaped cross symbol.

FIG. 7 shows a side view of FIG. 6, with the setting 31 shown in dashed lines.

The crowns 14 a, 14 b, 14 c and 14 d of the quadrant sections are faceted similar to a typical “full cut” stone, but other cuts may be used without departing from the scope of the present invention.

In the inscribed cross 30 of FIG. 8, the formation and construction of the cross is generally identical to the above description, except that the overall setting and shape of the diamond quadrants forms an overall four-sided, i.e., square or rectangle shape 40. In the same vein, the overall shape of the embodiment in FIG. 9 is oval. FIG. 10 presents the marquis shape and FIG. 11 the pear shape. Of course, other shapes, for example, polygonal, are also within the scope of the invention.

In the preceding description, the invention has been described relative to a preferred embodiment in which the cross shape is defined by four diamonds located in four quadrants of a circle or of a pear and the like. However, it is within the scope of the invention that the invention is realized by utilizing less or more than four diamond sections. Thus, in relation to FIG. 5, each of the two lower sections 13 c, 13 b can itself consist of two sections making for a total of 6 sections. Conversely, the two lower diamond sections 13 c, 13 d can be fashioned from a single diamond stone, and so could the upper diamond sections 13 a, 13 b, whereby the overall construction is achieved with two diamond sections. Therefore, the number of diamond sections can be 2, 4, 6, 8, or any number without departing from the scope of the invention.

Reference is also made to FIG. 12, which shows the invention in an embodiment where it defines the letter “M”. But as noted elsewhere in this description, any shape can be realized using the technique of the present invention. Still further, although the invention is described relative to creation of facets that simulate the look of a shape that is inscribed or cut into the tables of the diamonds, the invention can be realized by cutting away the outside portions of the tables and leaving an upraised shape in the form of cross or a letter, a symbol, etc.

Although the present invention has been described in relation to particular embodiments thereof, many other variations and modifications and other uses will become apparent to those skilled in the art. It is preferred, therefore, that the present invention be limited not by the specific disclosure herein, but only by the appended claims. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A jewelry stone cluster defining an item shape, the stone cluster comprising: a setting and a plurality of gemstone sections mounted in the setting and juxtaposed and mated to each other at joining surfaces, with each gemstone section including a table facet and respective item facets, the item facets extend in planes that are at an angle to their respective table facet, the item facets being located adjacent, abutted, and juxtaposed to each other so that they define together the item shape.
 2. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the item shape is a cross symbol defined by four gemstone sections, each gemstone section comprising a pair of cross facets that extend at an angle and generally below their respective table facet.
 3. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 2, wherein the four gemstone sections include a pair of upper gemstone quadrant sections and a pair of lower gemstone sections, and the upper gemstone sections are smaller in size than the lower gemstone sections.
 4. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the gemstone cluster has an overall round shape.
 5. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the gemstone cluster has an overall four-sided shape.
 6. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the gemstone cluster has an overall oval shape.
 7. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the gemstone cluster has an overall marquis shape.
 8. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the gemstone cluster has an overall pear shape.
 9. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the gemstone cluster is formed of diamonds.
 10. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the gemstone cluster is formed of semi previous stones.
 11. The jewelry stone cluster of claim 1, wherein the item shape is located generally at the center of the jewelry stone cluster.
 12. A method for forming a jewelry stone cluster defining an item shape, the method comprising the steps of: forming a plurality of gemstone sections, with each gemstone section including at least a table facet and a plurality of item facets, the item facets extending in planes that are at an angle to their respective table facet, such that the plurality of item facets are juxtaposed to each other and together define the item shape; and providing a setting and locating the gemstone sections in the setting to realize a composite gemstone arrangement with the item shape.
 13. The method of claim 12, further including forming four gemstone sections, with each gemstone section including a pair of item facets and juxtaposing and abutting the item facets together to form an inscribed cross.
 14. The method of claim 13, including forming the gemstone sections to include a pair of upper gemstone sections and a pair of lower gemstone sections, and the upper gemstone sections being smaller in size than the lower gemstone sections.
 15. The method of claim 12, including forming the gemstone cluster to have an overall round shape.
 16. The method of claim 12, including forming the gemstone cluster to have a four-sided shape.
 17. The method of claim 12, including forming the gemstone cluster to have an overall oval shape.
 18. The method of claim 12, including forming the gemstone cluster to have an overall marquis shape.
 19. The method of claim 12, including forming the gemstone cluster to have an overall pear shape.
 20. The method of claim 12, including forming the item shape so that it is substantially centrally located in the stone cluster. 